Open Wounds
by Masked-Writer-In-Disguise
Summary: AU.Kankurou-centric."You think I didn't try?...I told the school guidance councilor, and the school called home to confirm the stories. My father just passed it off as me looking for attention...He told me that if I ever told anyone again he'd kill me."


_**Masked-Writer-In-Disguise:**__ Yeah! A KankKiba story! This is another of my OTPs and I've never really tried writing for them before and this popped into me head when I got my red Etnies__TM__, thus Kankurou's red shoes, but here it is. Something outta my own strange head. I just love torturing these characters. _

_**Disclaimer:**__ I don't own Naruto or any of the characters mentioned in this story. I'm just borrowing them, so you all can get off my back! GODS! _

_**Inspiration:**__ My red Etnies, which I do own! AH-HA!_

_**Warnings:**__ Child abuse, attempted rape, boy/boy love, homo-bashing, but it in no way reflects my own opinion. If you've ever been to my profile, you'd understand._

&~o~o~o~o~o~o~&

_Open Wounds_

_By: Masked-Writer-In-Disguise_

The red shoes squeaked across the linoleum floor loudly, but remaining unheard by the rest of the student body. Green eyes scanned the hall absently, not really caring that people steered away from him, adverting their eyes, parting for him as though he carried the plague; he didn't. He was just gay. The teen had come out accidentally toward the end of last year when one of the jocks, and football player by the name of Kain, had found him and his ex-boyfriend in a compromising position in the locker room showers. After that, his boyfriend, Justin, had broken up with him and transferred out of state by the end of that week.

Kankurou sighed and stopped at his locker. He dreaded opening it because there was always something unpleasant in it on a Monday morning; always, without fail. The brunette entered his combination and opened the door; nothing happened. The teen blinked dumbly and stood staring at the metal box for a moment before looking up and down the hall. Nobody was looking at him, as per usual, but nobody was looking at him as though he were a disappointment for not providing their morning entertainment. Nothing was happening. Kankurou inhaled deeply and turned back to his locker, deposited was needed to be deposited and grabbing what he needed to grab. The locker door slammed closed behind him and the teen walked to his first period class room.

He was early, of course; he always was. Ever since his father had figured it out, that he was gay, the man only accepted excellence from his son; no grades below and A-, no problems in school, no 'tardy's, no absences (even if his was sick), no friends over (especially male friends) no fun. Nothing. Kankurou had no life unless his father allowed it and he wouldn't until Kankurou was 'cured'. He hung out with his baby brother at lunch (his friends were more accepting than the rest of the school), and his older sister was the one who protected him from his father when the man came home in a bad mood. The brunette felt pathetic, like there was something wrong with him. He felt he had an extremely contagious disease and if he got close to someone else, he'd contaminate them.

Kankurou was sitting in his usual seat in the back of the class right next to the window, thinking, when Kiba Inuzuka walked in. The soccer player looked at Kankurou, sitting in his red Etnies, his age-worn black baggy jeans, his red Tokio Hotel t-shirt and his baggy hoodie with cat ears on the hood, and he smiled because the other teen was unscathed. The 'prank' that had been meant for him today had been particularly vicious; Kankurou probably would have ended up in the hospital if Kiba and the others hadn't stepped in. The soccer player walked into the room towards his usual seat, but promptly changed his mind and moved to sit in the seat in the back, next to Kankurou.

Kankurou jumped as Kiba dropped his bag on the desk next to him, expecting to be hit or something else in the generally 'not nice' category. When Kiba failed to produce something of that general nature, the older of the two teens just looked at Kiba as though he'd grown a second head; the younger of the two looked back with a blank face. Kankurou frowned and slowly turned back to 'his' window, keeping a suspicious eye on the other teen, still expecting to be hit or harassed. Kiba just pulled out the things he'd need for this class, giving the signal that he was firmly entrenched in his camp and he was not moving for anyone.

The rest of the class filed in, giving a strange, confused glance or two toward the back of the room. Under normal circumstances Kankurou would be able to brush the looks off, but these weren't normal circumstances; a jock was sitting next to him and he hadn't suffered any bodily harm…yet. Whispers filled the room and quick furtive glances shot back and forth between the two brunettes before their owners turned back to add the own speculations to the discussions going on around them. Kankurou sank further down into his seat; it was times like this he wished he could have followed Justin.

A blond, brightly smiling male walked into the room, immediately making a bee-line for Kiba, his best friend. The bright ball of sunshine was called Naruto and he was a happy-go-lucky violin player. The teen had never judged Kankurou; in fact, Naruto smiled at him on a regular basis, but Kankurou tried to stay away from him. The blond plopped his bag down on the desk in front of Kankurou and sat down.

Kankurou looked at him as if he'd grown a second head, too. Naruto laughed.

"Hey, Kiba, why are we sitting back here today?" the blond smiled, and Kankurou turned to look at Kiba, too.

"Yes, why are we sitting back here?" he repeated, not rudely or meanly, but curiously wary. Nobody ever took the time to worry about him or go out of their way to be nice to him anymore.

Kiba shrugged, and said, "He looked like he needed a friend," as much to Kankurou as to Naruto.

Kankurou blinked and Naruto just nodded acceptingly. Kankurou suddenly looked very nervous, flicking his eyes back and forth between the considerably more popular teens. Kiba looked at him worriedly; Kankurou was usually very well collected, not nervous and twiddling his thumbs.

"What's wrong?" Kiba asked quietly. The bell had just let out its shrill whine and the teacher was setting up in the front of the room.

Kankurou shook his head and turned his attention to the front of the class where Baki-sensei was calling the rowdy teens to order. Kiba frowned slightly, but followed suit and soon the class was drowning in equations and functions. By the time class was over, Kiba was ready to take a power drill to his temple; he hated math and judging from his latest test scores, he was nearly failing it. Naruto wasn't doing much better.

The Inuzuka glanced over at Kankurou's paper; B-. Lucky bastard. Instead of being happy about the good grade, though, Kankurou seemed pale. Kiba frowned, but said nothing. The bell rang and there was a flurry of movement and sound as books slammed shut, papers crinkled, students picked up conversations and the teacher called out that night's homework, due tomorrow that Kankurou copied down very carefully with a slightly shaking hand.

Kiba tapped Kankurou on the shoulder and he jumped. "When do you have lunch?"

Kankurou frowned, but replied anyway, "I have B lunch."

Naruto nodded and smiled brightly, "We'll see you at lunch, then!"

Kankurou shook his head as he stood up, stuffed all of his stuff in his bag and walked out the door in a daze. The first thing he was dazed about was that it was Monday and nothing had happened to him yet. The second thing was he had apparently made some friends in unexpected places on accident. The third and most important thing was his grade on the last test. His father was going to kill him and no amount of an interfering Temari was going to keep him in tact. Kankurou sighed and blinked as he found himself already in the room for his next class. He shrugged mentally and took his seat in the same place as the last class, in the back next to the window; all of his classrooms seemed to have a window.

In this class, Literature, a brainiac named Shino came to sit with him. Kankurou recalled that this guy was one Kiba's bestest, oldest friends. They were very rarely seen without each other. For a while, some people had thought they'd been dating, but that had only lasted for about a week. Kankurou didn't particularly care either way; he just wanted to know why everyone in Kiba's group had suddenly taken an interest in him. He honestly wasn't very interesting; he had no life, thanks to his father; he wasn't allowed to have a hobby, so he had nothing really worth talking about. Nothing. He was a nobody that people just liked to pick on.

Shino didn't say anything, which suited Kankurou just fine and they went through the motions of Lit class without even paying attention to what they were doing.

The rest of the day until lunch was kinda a daze for Kankurou. Nobody tripped him, nothing was put in his locker, people were actually looking at him without any trace of malice and he had one of Kiba's friends in each of his classes. After Shino, it had been Shikamaru (the guy Temari fancied); after him it had been Choji.

Now, it was lunch.

Kankurou stood in line, as per usual, waiting for his turn to get his meal. He looked back and forth between Gaara and his friends and Kiba and his group that had just walked in the cafeteria door. Who the hell was he supposed to sit with? His tray was filled and he turned to the table where his baby brother was sitting and took his usual seat; he always found it was best to stick to the things one knew when there was any doubt. Kiba spotted Kankurou and made a bee-line for him. The younger brunette took a seat and pulled out his usual sack lunch, his other friends following suit. Kankurou stared at Kiba until the boy responded.

"What?" Kiba asked, his mouth full of ham sandwich.

"You were serious?" Kankurou replied with a question of his own.

"Duh," Shikamaru stated from his place next to Gaara. They obviously knew each other to be this comfortable in each other's company. It took a lot of practice to be able to be around Gaara for any extended period of time.

Kankurou looked at Gaara, who looked right back, his face as blank as always. Gaara shrugged to his older brother's unspoken question; he had no clue what Kankurou should do.

"Hey, Gaara!" Naruto said brightly as he sat on Gaara's other side.

The redhead smiled, even if it was small, and allowed Naruto to give him an awkwardly positioned hug. Everyone at the table got to experience firsthand what it felt like to lose their jaw as their mouths were hanging open. Gaara's eyes were sparkling with unuttered laughter, but Naruto had not such reservations.

"Gaara, you never tell me anything anymore," Kankurou pouted.

"You know Gaara?" Naruto asked, opening his bento.

"He's my baby brother," Kankurou chuckled as jaws dropped again; they had just finished picking them up, too. Kiba looked confused, eyes flicking between the two brothers. Kankurou knew what he was on his mind: Why is one so popular while the other is a social outcast? "Nobody really knows we're related. We have an older sister too; she graduated."

Gaara nodded in agreement, and the rest of the group shrugged and went to eating with the occasional outburst of meaningless conversation. Kankurou was slowly becoming used to having friends again, well, people his age he could enjoy a conversation with, and he liked the feeling. He just didn't know how he was ever going to be able to hang out with them. His father was a bastard, after all.

The boys had a surprisingly normal lunch. Sure, a few of the jocks looked at Kiba and his gang oddly, but it was nice; normal, as so many things in Kankurou's life not been in such a long while. All too soon, though, everything had to go back to status quo, and the table (not really the table, but the boys at the table) stood up and packed up their stuff.

The rest of the day went by far too quickly rather than being obligingly slow and Kankurou made his way home, dreading what he knew was going to be a painful beating. He swallowed the lump that seemed to have taken up residence in the back of his throat and opened the door quietly. His dad's car had been in the garage, so he knew he wouldn't have any time to prepare for what was coming. The teen would be facing it almost as soon as he walked through the door.

Kankurou opened the door as quietly as possible and closed it equally so. He tip-toed to the mudroom door and peeked into the kitchen. Sure enough, his father was sitting at the table with his back to his oldest son. Said son let out a quiet sigh and closed his eyes for a few moments' peace before he toed off his shoes and walked into the room holding the one man in the entire world with the power to scare him shitless.

No sooner than he'd made it across the kitchen that the dreaded question was asked, immediately killing any hope that he'd been miraculously forgotten. Kankurou had just set foot just outside the kitchen door when the man at the table with papers spread before him spoke:

"What did you get on your math test?" The question was blunt and to the point, spoken with little to no interest and just the slightest hint of dire warning. It was how the man always spoke to Kankurou, but Kankurou winced nonetheless.

"B-," the boy murmured, his fight or flight instinct kicking in, causing his legs to tense and his body to lean forward, almost unnoticeably.

Almost.

The man at the table had looked up with hard eyes that Kankurou only felt and caught the movement.

"A B-? That's unacceptable, Kankurou," the man said in a mock-gentle tone, standing up and pushing his chair back to walk to the terrified boy. "We both know you can do better than that, but I think you need to be reminded properly. Go to your room; I'll be there shortly."

Kankurou swallowed another lump and nodded, moving mechanically, stiffly, out of the kitchen, down the hall and up the stairs to his bedroom, last door on the right. The dread had reached its apex and he was shaking now, wanting desperately to run but knowing that if he did so, he'd end up in the hospital for an unknown amount of time. At least the punishment for 'failing grades' wasn't as bad as the ones for breaking curfew or not coming home straight from school or work, taking detours. There were reasons Kankurou was claustrophobic.

Shaking hands grasped at the hem of his shirt and he pulled it over his head, hoping that his shaking could be mistaken for chill, but knowing it wouldn't be. The teen went over and sat, chest to the back, in his desk chair. He knew what to expect by now and it usually meant less pain for himself if he was ready and waiting. The teen made sure his back was facing the door. Then he sat there and waited, biting his lip to try to keep he tears at bay. Nothing was even happening yet and he was on the verge of tears; gods, he was pathetic.

Soon, Kankurou could hear the jingle of the belt clasp from behind him and he fought the urge to turn his head. He did _not_ want to see which belt had been chosen. That would just send his instincts into overdrive and he'd run. He knew he'd run, so he closed his eyes and tensed his back, trying to prepare himself for the pain that he knew would come without a warning.

And come without a warning it did. The pain came quickly with a sharp crack and Kankurou whimpered. It was the spiked belt. He'd definitely be bleeding by the end of this and that meant Temari wasn't home yet; the man never used the spiked belt when Temari was home. It came again and Kankurou leaned forward in an attempt to escape the pain. Another strike fell and the teen's throat constricted, trying to hold in a scream because these things got worse if he screamed, always worse. The next strike fell and Kankurou's stomach tightened and his knuckles whitened.

By the time the beating was done, Kankurou was shaking badly and tears were running freely down his face. He was pressed up against the back of the chair hard enough to bruise and blood was trickling down his chin and from the various open wounds on his back, puncture and lacerations in nature. His jaw was sore from holding back any sound.

Kankurou hadn't screamed once.

The man coiled up the belt and walked out the open door, ordering over his shoulder, "Get yourself cleaned up then start your homework. I am not accepting another failure like this from you again."

"Y-yes, s-sir," Kankurou managed to reply.

Then the man was gone and Kankurou was left clinging desperately to his unresponsive chair. It took a while for his shaking to subside, but Kankurou still sat there for an unknown amount of time. It wasn't until he heard footsteps and voices coming up the stairs that he realized Gaara was home and that somebody was with him. He panicked. If anyone saw him like this, he'd be killed, but now it was unavoidable because Kankurou was still unable/willing to move and Gaara's room was directly across from his.

The footsteps stopped before picking up hurriedly. Then there were two pairs of hands on him and Kankurou flinched involuntarily.

"Kankurou," Kiba whispered, worry clearly exposed in his voice.

"Don't tell," Kankurou inwardly winced at the sound of his own voice. It sounded pathetic and desperate and pained. He'd never used to sound like that; he'd always been the confident older brother without a care in the world, always looking out for his little brother, keeping the bullies away. Now, he was lucky if a day went by without someone trying to undermine his steadily shrinking self-esteem, and his brother was the one taking care of him.

Kiba remained quiet and began to pry Kankurou's clenched fingers from the chair and Gaara helped him stand. Kankurou's knees were shaky and so he was grateful for the support. He finally opened his eyes and for them already halfway to the 'kids' bathroom.' He hadn't even realized they were moving, and he looked down at his feet, bemusedly. It was always like this after these types of things, like he'd 'left' to block out the pain and his body was running on autopilot; the captain was absent.

Kankurou was set carefully on the edge of the bathtub and Gaara began rummaging under the sink for their first-aid kit while Kiba sat with Kankurou, trying to keep him steady. Kankurou just tried to get his fingers to work again; he'd squeezed all the blood out of them.

"Does this happen often?" Kiba asked quietly ask Gaara took his place on the other side.

"Every time he breaks a rule. Sometimes worse."

"It's child abuse," Kiba said quietly.

"And our dad is rather powerful. He'd pay anybody that brought up charges against him off. What can we do about it? He'll be hurt more if people find out," Gaara began applying the disinfectant to his brother's back.

"How long has-?"

"Since I 'came out'," Kankurou finally managed to find enough of himself to join in the conversation. "Why are you here?"

"History project," Kiba replied, tilting the wounded teen's face upward to get a better look at his lip. "How do you cover these things up?"

"He's got all his gym credits and he wears make-up," Gaara finished cleaning his brother's back and began to mix and spread the plaster over them because they'd otherwise run out of band-aids. "Tem is going to be furious."

"She always is," Kankurou replied and winced as Kiba began to clean his cut lip.

"At you or your father?" Kiba muttered, validly concerned for the other teen's safety and well-being.

"Him," Gaara and Kankurou both gestured toward the stairs.

The boys finished cleaning up in silence and the bastard called up the stairs, "Kankurou! Where are you in the homework?"

"I'm finished with English and moving on to Chemistry," Kankurou called out, eyes tightly closed.

Kiba frowned and opened his mouth to call Kankurou out (they had no homework in those subjects), but a warning look from Gaara shut him up before he even began. There was silence from downstairs, meaning the man was satisfied with the answer. Kankurou released a sigh and went to stand up, wincing slightly as the sore muscles of his back flexed.

"Thanks, but I have to get to work now," Kankurou murmured as he exited the bathroom. Before he closed his bedroom door he heard the other teens exit the bathroom and he heard Kiba ask:

"Is that all he does? Study?"

"It's all he's _allowed_ to do. Our father doesn't want to raise an 'abomination.'" The quotations were clear around the last word.

The door closed and Kankurou leaned against it, immediately regretting it as his wounds became pressurized. He chewed on his cheek and went to his backpack to start on his history work. He hadn't even bothered trying to find a partner because even if someone had been willing to work with him, _that man_ wouldn't've let him. Even if the teacher had said it was _supposed_ to be a partner project.

The teen made for his desk and promptly changed his mind, as he did every day, and sat on his bed instead. He spread his homework out in front of him and got started. He wasn't sure how long he sat there, completely immersed as he was in his history reading (did you all catch that sarcasm?), but eventually Gaara came in with a plate of food, Kiba in tow. The plate was set in front of Kankurou and the teen looked up at his younger brother questioningly. Whenever he got in trouble, dinner was usually out of the question.

"We have a guest," Gaara murmured in explanation, quiet as he usually was, and cleaned a space off of the bed for him and Kiba to sit.

Kankurou nodded and picked up the plate with no further questions; Temari always saved him a plate anyways, but it was nicer to have it delivered to his room. The room was silent except for Kankurou's eating, none of the boys really wanted to alert the man to their illicit meeting. Alerting him would get Kankurou into more trouble because Kiba was most definitely male and in Kankurou's bedroom.

The silence stretched on and they heard _his_ bedroom door close and light footsteps approaching Kankurou's door; Temari. The door opened and said young woman's head poked in and she smiled.

"I thought I'd find you all in here. Anyway, he's gone to bed, so have fun. Go to bed at a reasonable hour."

Kankurou looked at Temari, nodded then turned to Kiba with a raised eyebrow, "You're staying the night?"

"Yep!" Kiba smiled widely.

Temari left, closing the door once more, and the boys sat there in silence once again; Kankurou wasn't sure what to do in these situations anymore, Gaara was just naturally quiet and Kiba was thinking. Kankurou pulled his knees to his chest and rested his chin on them watching Kiba with a raised eyebrow. It took a while for Kiba to notice and when he did, he said:

"What?"

"Are you quiet on a regular basis? Or is this new for you?"

"I'm only quiet when I'm thinking."

"Then what are you thinking about?"

"How to get you out of this house so you can have a relatively normal teenage life."

Kankurou's already raised eyebrow disappeared into his bangs and he looked at Kiba as though he'd just announced he was actually Johnny Depp in disguise. "And how are you going to do that without getting me hurt?"

"I don't know yet. You interrupted me," Kiba grinned. "I'm sure if I asked Naruto he'd come up with something stupid. I'll have to take this up with the committee."

"Who's 'the committee?'"

"Who'd you eat lunch with today?"

Kankurou was sure his face looked funny. He just knew it.

"When you put all our brains together, you get warped plans that usually work," Kiba nodded proudly. "There were three that were absent today; Sasuke, Sai and Neji, and they're geniuses along with Shikamaru and the rest of us throw in ideas that never really seem like they're going to work, but they do and Gaara makes a wonderful distraction. I think it's his hair…"

Kankurou was silent for a minute, then, "I'm not sure I want to put my freedom in _your _hands anymore."

"They usually always win," Gaara supplied helpfully. "They have Uchiha, Hyuuga, Namikaze, and Nara behind them."

"If you have them, why do you make the plans?"

"'Cause it's fun!" Kiba grinned maniacally.

Kankurou let out a snort and the boys carried on like that well into the night.

&~o~o~o~o~o~o~&

The first thing that Kankurou became aware of was that his bed was far too small and far too warm to have only one occupant. The second thing he became aware of was the arm around his waist on the right and the head on his shoulder on the left. His eyes popped open and darted around the room in a panic. There was no question that the arm was male; the head was his brother's, so that was relatively normal, Gaara had nightmares all the time, but if his father walked in and found him like this, with another male his age that wasn't his brother, he was going to hurt.

Gaara, light sleeper that he is, took notice of the change and sat up, reaching across his older brother to push the other male away. Kiba sat up groggily and looked around and Kankurou couldn't help but think it was absolutely adorable before the other teen's eyes landed on him. They seemed rather confused at Kankurou's panicked face, but understanding lit them soon after.

Kankurou closed his eyes, as much to block out Kiba's face as to calm himself down. An arm was thrown across his face and said hoarsely, "You two need to get out of here."

"Yeah," Kiba replied and climbed out of the bed. "Sorry for freaking you out, Kankurou."

"It's OK. I just don't want to get hurt again."

The two younger teens left and Kankurou rolled onto his right side, burying his head in the pillow that still smelled like Kiba; dogs and peppermint shampoo, maybe something kinda spicy, like cinnamon. Kankurou bit his lip and tried to hold back tears. He'd liked having Kiba's arm around him and he'd liked seeing Kiba right after he'd first woken up and he liked Kiba's scent and he knew he'd never be able to have anything like that until he moved out. He squeezed his eyes tightly and took a deep breath.

Six months. That's all that was left until he was 18. He'd graduate and leave; he'd already started apartment hunting and there was a new complex opening up around that time on the outskirts of the other side of town. Maybe he'd move out exactly on his birthday, as a birthday present to himself. Then he could get a boyfriend and have a normal life without being beaten for pointless things like B-'s and getting home late due to traffic and having a male in his room, no matter the age difference.

Kankurou sighed and laid there until his alarm clock went off. He slapped the snooze button and pulled his head out of the Kiba-scented pillow. Now that he thought about it, it was probably pretty creepy that he was practically scent-stalking a boy he hadn't known for very long. A groan escaped his lips and he pushed himself up so he could be early to school, as per usual. He could hear the man moving around downstairs in the kitchen and knew he'd have to walk past him to get out. He didn't want to see that man; never wanted to, in fact, but people routinely had to do things they hated to survive, but Kankurou wasn't really sure how long his survival was going to last.

Kankurou pulled his clothes out of the closet, stripped down and pulled on the clean ones. He grabbed his bag and books and stepped out into the hall where he almost ran into Kiba at the bathroom door. The teen was already fully dressed for the day and was holding his toothbrush in one hand. He looked particularly gorgeous right now, but Kankurou couldn't be sure if it was actual beauty or if it was just his stressed teenage hormones over reacting to seeing someone that was admittedly attractive in a manly sort of way. Some guys liked other guys because they had feminine aspects to their features; Kankurou liked men that looked like men and looked a little bit more rugged than your typical gay man. Kiba looked particularly feral and Kankurou liked it.

"Oh, um, sorry," Kankurou whispered and stepped back. "Why are you up so early?"

"Figured I'd walk to school with you. I'll make an excuse about having to grab a textbook from home and I live on the other side of town, so it's plausible," Kiba replied. "I told Gaara, so he can back us up."

"Go on down and get your breakfast 'n' stuff. _He_'ll show you where everything is. I gotta finish getting ready. When you finish, leave before me and meet me at the bus stop. Dad doesn't leave 'til 8 'cause he's the boss."

"'Kay, see ya later."

The entire conversation was held in very quiet whispers, to the point where the boys could barely hear each other, so Kankurou really didn't fear being overheard by anyone that would want him hurt. Kiba disappeared into Gaara's room to get his stuff, then reemerged and trotted down the stairs. Kankurou watched him go and waited until he could hear Kiba's cheerful voice catching the man in conversation before he went into the bathroom to finish his morning routine.

Kankurou brushed his teeth and put on his eye make-up and foundation to cover up the cut just under his lip. Then he took a piss and went downstairs. Kiba was already gone and Kankurou was doing his best to ignore the stare the man was leveling at him as he dropped three pieces of bread for toast and got out the fake butter Temari insisted was better for them. He kept his eyes glazed over in his usual morning grogginess and filled his thermos with black coffee. The man didn't say anything until Kankurou's toast popped, like the noise the toaster made was a trigger for sound.

"Do you know Kiba?" the man asked bluntly.

Kankurou 'hmm'ed and frowned, looking at the man that had the nerve to call himself a father with slightly stupid early-morning eyes. "Kiba? The guy Gaara had here last night? Only by reputation. He's soccer team champion."

The man accepted it with a nod. Kankurou knew he'd accepted it because he knew how to read the man. It was the only way he could manage to stay conscious sometimes. Kankurou grabbed all his stuff and walked unhurriedly out the door, taking a bit of his buttered toast followed by a sip of the hot liquid, already feeling better about the day. If he walked like he was in a hurry to get somewhere, the man would hold him back, interrogate him and probably end up beating him. He exited the building unmolested and stepped out into the cool morning air on his way to the bus stop to meet the first friend he'd had since Justin.

Kiba was waiting there, as planned, and fell into step beside the older teen. Kankurou took another sip of his coffee and offered some to Kiba who shook his head.

"It's black."

"How did you know that?" Kankurou glanced at his thermos.

"I have a really good sense of smell."

"Oh. I used to have really good eyes, but I think the excess studying has ruined them. I think I need glasses, but if I'm anything less than perfect in my father's eyes, life gets spontaneously difficult."

"So, when do you get away from that house?"

"Six months. I've already started looking for a place. I've found one on the other side of town, a new complex, and I managed to get the manager to hold one for me."

"Do you have a job?" Kiba asked.

"Yeah, I've got to work tonight, in fact. I work at a 24 hour bookstore, so I get paid a bit more than minimum wage, but it should pay for my living alone if I get the scholarship I'm hoping for."

"When you get out of there, let me know and we'll help you move," Kiba said as the boys looked both ways and walked across the street.

"Oh, y'all don't have to. I've got Tem and Gaara."

"Nah, it's no problem. Why are you always so hesitant in conversations?"

"If you haven't noticed, people avoid me like the plague. They somehow think 'gay' is contagious, so I haven't really had a conversation with anyone my age in a year and my brother doesn't really count, as much as I love him," Kankurou finished his toast and adjusted his bag on his shoulder after wiping his fingers on his pants. "Being gay is really just a personal choice that you don't really realize you've made until you're in bed with another guy."

Kiba raised an eyebrow and looked warily at Kankurou.

"Well," Kankurou began, "that's an exaggeration. My first crush was on a male guitarist, I don't even remember his name now, when I was ten," Kankurou clarified, "so I obviously wasn't sexually active. Girls never even came into the equation. They annoyed me, so I didn't like them."

"So you've always been gay?"

"Yep," Kankurou replied cheerily and looked at the younger teen out of the corner of his eye. Kiba seemed somewhat relieved at the explanation and Kankurou frowned minutely. "Why do you ask?"

"Just curious."

The rest of the walk was silent, and people looked at the pair strangely as they passed, walking near enough to each other to be friends, which was weird because Kiba was a jock and Kankurou was the gay outcast of the school. Kiba kept making strange faces and anyone who he caught looking, which was just about everyone they passed. Kankurou couldn't help but laugh.

They reached Kankurou's locker first and Kiba stood off to the side like he was waiting for a friend. Kankurou opened his locker at arm's length, just in case, before stepping forward and performing his usual exchange. Kiba shook his head.

"You do realize we've taken care of that, right? Nothing is going to be put in your locker unless we don't know about it and we have eyes everywhere," Kiba laughed.

Kankurou looked at Kiba with a raised eyebrow.

"Why are you guys suddenly so interested in me? And just keeping things out of my locker would be good enough. You don't have to drag your reputation through the mud."

"_I'm_ suddenly interested in you for reasons of my own, and, no, keeping things out of your locker wouldn't be enough because there are enough people that don't like you to make it easy for them to find places to hurt you. A few of the other jocks mentioned dragging my reputation through the mud, but I don't think I am," Kiba replied, leaning against the lockers.

"I'm perfectly capable of taking care of myself," Kankurou slammed his locker shut and turned to face the other teen.

"I know you are, but I _want_ to help you. It's not exactly fair that you're the only gay boy in this school getting picked on!"

Kankurou froze as though he'd been slapped. Kiba hadn't yelled; in fact, Kiba had practically been whispering, but the older of the two had heard it loud and clear. There were other gay students in this school? The questions must have been written on his face in red ink because Kiba started talking again.

"Yeah," Kiba began, "Sasuke and Sai have been dating for about a year and Neji was absent all last week and yesterday because his boyfriend is a school doctor at an all boys private school and that school was having a break so the two of them went to the Caribbean."

Kankurou slumped against the lockers, feeling something strange in the area of his stomach and knowing he wouldn't be able to go home without being beaten again. His ass hit the floor, he had no recollection of ever sliding, and Kiba crouched down next to him, looking worried.

"You OK?"

Kankurou nodded numbly. "Just give me a sec." He took a deep breath and closed his eyes; it was the easiest way for him to calm down. They sat there in silence before someone spoke up.

"You know you two would make an adorable couple, right?"

Kankurou opened his eyes and found Neji standing there, casually chewing on an arm of his sunglasses.

"Hey, Neji. How's Hokuto?" Kiba smiled.

"He's fine. Is _he_ OK?" Neji countered, stepping closer to the pair.

"Yeah, he'll be fine. I just told him about you, Sasuke and Sai."

Neji made an 'oh' face and said, "Yes, from his point of view, it_ would_ be surprising. You two _still_ would make and adorable couple."

_I know,_ Kankurou thought. _Trust me._

"You're still going on about that?" Kiba plopped fully next to the older teen, looking up at Neji.

"I've never been wrong before and I doubt I'll be wrong now."

"In case you haven't noticed, up until Hokuto, you've had horrible tastes in boyfriends," Kiba said.

"I never said I'm good with _me_, but with other people…"

"Name some couples you put together that have worked and are still working."

"Sai/Sasuke, Naruto/Hinata, Lee/Sakura, Choji/Ino, Taiki/Nakatsu…"

"I don't know those last two," Kiba said.

"Come downtown with me today after school and you can meet them," Neji grinned and looked at Kankurou.

"I'll consider it. You've got a pretty nice tan. I take it you had a lot of fun?" Kiba grinned.

"Yep, sex on the beach and everything," Neji grinned like he knew he was causing someone pain just by saying that.

Kiba groaned. "No offense to your ass or anything, Neji, because it's a pretty nice ass, but I really don't want Hokuto's in my brain."

"Well, I'm not the one who's picturing his ass… well, now I am, but you started it," Neji sat down on the other side of Kankurou. "So, are either one of you going to make a move or do I have to set you up?"

"I wouldn't be able to do anything for another six months," Kankurou said quietly after a while.

Neji frowned and glanced over at Kiba with a raised eyebrow.

"He's kinda got a bad home life right now and he's turning 18 in six months," Kiba explained quietly. "He's moving out then, and we're helping him."

"Aww, they look ridiculously cute together," a teasing voice said from the side, causing the three teens to cast sidelong glances at the pair of raven-haired teens standing hand-in-hand.

"Hey, Sasuke, Sai, you guys are back! Did you have a good weekend?" Kiba smiled.

"We had a very good weekend," Sai purred, leaving no question as to how the last three days had been spent. "Yesterday was our recovery day."

"Which really only means you two only had two or three orgasms rather than five or six because Sai's a horny bastard," Neji teased.

"Well, yeah," Sasuke rolled his eyes. "Are they dating?" Fingers pointed between Kankurou and Kiba.

"Nope," Kankurou said, managing to keep the pain out of his voice. He'd decided during the silences between conversations with the other teens that the attraction to Kiba had actually been going on for a while. Memories flitted through his head of watching Kiba at soccer practice when he didn't have to be at work right away and seeing the teen in the halls with his friends or in the cafeteria politely turning down hormonal teenage girls that found him ruggedly handsome. Kankurou really wanted to be with Kiba, but right now, that wasn't going to happen.

"Well, at least not yet," Neji smirked devilishly. "They will be."

"You're too confident, Neji," Naruto trotted up to them casually. "They might not actually end up liking each other, even if they do look good together."

"That seems to be the general consensus, yes," Kiba nodded and glanced at the clock behind Naruto's head. "You're late for being early, Kankurou."

"I don't care. I don't even like school. I'm sick of it." Kankurou slumped back against the locker and rolled his eyes. It was true; he was beyond sick of school. Being forced to do well in school, study hard out of school, hold a part time job. The teen probably wasn't even going to go to college right out of high school; he'd had quite enough, and Kankurou couldn't wait to get out of his father's house. He knew he'd be able to take care of himself 'cause he'd been doing it for years. Only six months left.

&~o~o~o~o~o~o~&

_Four months left!_ Kankurou texted to Kiba at 11:27 PM, well after his father had gone to bed. Kankurou had always had a cell that he paid for himself with his own money, receiving the bill through a P.O. Box he'd set up a while ago, but he'd never really seen the point of keeping it except for emergencies when he'd have to call Temari or Gaara and had almost shut it off. Then Kiba had given him his cell number and Kankurou found a way to hang out with him when he couldn't hang out with him.

_Really? Sweet! Y don't u abrev? Ur weird._ Kiba texted back at 11:28 PM.

_Annoying. I like grammar, and I'm not changing my texting habits._ Sent at 11:28 PM.

_Fine. Wazzup?_ Received at 11:29 PM.

_Nothing really. I'm laying in bed staring at the ceiling, texting you. Finished my homework early… You?_ Sent at 11:29 PM.

_On my tummy, trying to Z while my Sis has sex 1 room ovr._ Received at 11:30 PM.

_Well, that's fun. Tem had Shikamaru over for dinner tonight. It was hard to act like we weren't friends, ya know?_ Sent at 11:30 PM.

_: ( u have plns 4 moveout day?_ Received at 11:31 PM.

_Not sure yet… Probably go to a gay club or something._ Sent at 11:31 PM.

_I wanna take u to a gay bar… -humming- Shit. Stuck in my head now. Grr._ Received at 11:32 PM.

_Sorry, but I really don't care. I wanna take YOU to a gay bar… Maybe get in your pants._ Sent at 11:32 PM.

_I don't know…u might cnvrt me, then Naruto & Shikamaru wld b the only straits in our group…maybe…_ Received at 11:33 PM.

_But I'd make you happy… -devilishgrin-_ Sent at 11:33 PM.

_I'm sure u wld, but…i'm not gay…_ Received at 11:34 PM.

…_Yet… I'll convert you : )_ Sent at 11:34 PM.

_YAY! Smily face! Ur making progress._ Received at 11:35 PM.

_You spelled Smiley wrong…_ Sent at 11:35 PM.

_Dude, g2g. mom says get off, to 2 bed. See you 2morrow. G'night, sexy._ Received at 11:35 PM. Then, _lol I did, so what._

_G'night, dude. See you tomorrow._ Sent at 11:36 PM.

Kankurou looked at the phone sadly and slowly closed it. Of course Kiba wasn't gay. Nothing would be easy for Kankurou, would it? He'd actually have to convert Kiba in order to get what he wanted in life for a change. Well, there was no use worrying about this until he didn't have an abusive homophobic father breathing down his neck at every step. He set his phone on the bedside table and tucked his hands under his head, still looking at the ceiling.

Kankurou laid there for a while, just trying not to think about anything. Then his phone started buzzing. The teen frowned, inhaled and reached over for the little device. He flipped it open; it was Naruto.

"What?" Kankurou said as loudly as he dared into the phone, which was pretty quiet.

"_Dude, why isn't Gaara picking up his phone?"_ Naruto asked equally as quiet. The blond knew about the home situation through Gaara and understood the need for silence.

"He's trying to sleep and before you ask, no I can't go get him. There's an alarm on my bedroom door."

"_Is there one on your window?"_ Naruto was clearly frowning.

"No, I always wondered about that, too… but up until now, I never really had a reason to sneak out…"

"_When did the alarm get installed? Kiba said he escaped your room really early one morning and there wasn't an alarm on it then…"_

"Yeah, it's new. He'd found out about Kiba and Gaara spending the night in my room; didn't want a repeat of the incident. Look, I'm sorry to cut this short, but I gotta get some sleep in here sometime tonight. I have to wake up in…" Kankurou glanced at his alarm clock, it was 12:23, and did the math, "4 ½ hours…"

"'_Kay, sorry for bugging you. Im'ma try Gaara again. Sleep well, dude. Don't get yourself killed."_

"Your concern is touching. G'night." Kankurou hung up and tossed the phone back onto the side table. Fuck, he wasn't going to be able to sleep tonight…

And he was right. The stupid alarm clock went off at its usual time and Kankurou hadn't been able to sleep at all. The sun was just beginning to rise and the brunette really didn't feel like getting his ass out of bed, but he knew he had to because Father was downstairs, just waiting for him to come down the stairs. A sigh echoed through the room soon followed by the sounds of rustling cloth as Kankurou pushed aside his blankets and began to get ready for the day.

There was a knock at the door and Father called out, "Kankurou. Up. Now. The alarm's off."

Kankurou just ignored it. He didn't like the alarm. Really, what was he supposed to do when every tiny little aspect of his life is controlled by a man that was supposed to want every happiness for his child, no matter how unconventional that happiness may be. When Kankurou exited his room on his way to the bath room he found Gaara's head poking tentatively out of his bedroom door. He looked scared.

"Nightmare?" Kankurou whispered, "Or did he wake you up?"

"I don't like the alarm," was all Gaara said in way of explanation.

"Did Naruto get a hold of you?"

"Yeah, right after I woke up from the nightmare. It was like he knew, or something. The first thing he said was 'what's wrong?'. I hadn't even said anything yet…"

"Yeah," Kankurou reached out and ruffled Gaara's already messy red hair, much to his little brother's annoyance, "I don't like the alarm much either. What does he expect me to do?"

Then Kankurou went and preformed his morning routine, right down to the putting on of make-up, even though he really didn't need any today. He trotted quietly down the stairs and into the kitchen where Father was sitting, as per usual, reading the morning paper. Kankurou busied himself with breakfast and coffee, doing his absolute best to stay out of Father's way and line of sight, but he could still feel the older man's gaze resting on him from time to time. Toast and thermos in hand, the teen made his was casually to the mud room and slipped on his shoes before leaving the house behind, just glad to leave that man behind.

When Kankurou arrived at school, Kiba and Naruto were waiting for him.

"Dude," Naruto took one look at him before starting the conversation, "did you even get any sleep last night?"

"No, but not for lack of trying," Kankurou ran a hand over his face and picked the sand out of the corners of his eyes. "I went home yesterday and Father decided I was getting too unruly and installed an alarm on my door that he turns on when he goes to bed and turns off when he wakes up in the morning."

"You and your text books getting a little too touchy?" Kiba joked.

"He found out about our sleep over when you first came over… but he forgot about the window… He probably figures nobody would bother climbing the wall though," Kankurou scratched at his chin and started for his locker, Naruto and Kiba in tow.

"Wow, sounds like your old man is kinda paranoid about your extra-curricular activities. What's his problem?" Naruto leaned casually against the locker to the left of Kankurou's.

"Yeah, he is paranoid and I'm not quite sure what his problem is, but I'm sure it's hard to pronounce…"

"So," Kiba began abruptly, "the window, your access to the outside world, is completely free, but you bedroom door, the thing that leads into the hallway, down the stairs, past the sleeping dragon's lair and to the locked front door –obviously the least likely path one that is sneaking out is going to take- is… set to go off?"

"Yes, what are you planning?" Kankurou narrowed his eyes suspiciously. One of the few things he'd learned while hanging out with Kiba and the gang was that that look on any one of their faces was usually always a plot to break the rules. That's just how it went.

"I'm not planning anything as of yet, but I am filing it away for future use," Kiba waved his finger around as he explained before casually and proudly crossing his arms across his chest.

"Well, okay, then… Just don't get me killed or almost killed," Kankurou went through the usual locker drill and slammed it closed.

"I wouldn't dream of it, Kanky," Kiba started towards first period math class.

Kankurou rolled his eyes at the ridiculous nickname Kiba had insisted upon and followed his two friends to their usual seats in the back of the room. Why did he put up with that nickname? Well, when someone loves somebody else, they make sacrifices. Kankurou liked having Kiba around, so naturally Kankurou would let Kiba call him whatever he wanted to call him. A man in love can hardly argue with the one receiving that love.

Kiba glanced up at Kankurou from behind the fringe of his hair halfway through class and wondered if what he was feeling for the older teen was actually enough to make him gay or if there was something else one had to do before that became official…

&~o~o~o~o~o~o~&

"You little slut!" Kankurou received yet another hit to the face and he reeled backwards, hitting his head on the wall and leaving a sizable dent in the plaster. He raised his arms in a feeble attempt to ward the drunken man off, but a knee came up and hit him in the diaphragm. Apparently his father had found out about Kiba.

"You fucking little fag! How dare you…" the man grabbed Kankurou by the hair and pulled him forward so that their faces were centimeters apart, "bring your filthy, slutty body into this house. You're corrupting the air, you fucking bender! What did I tell you?"

Spittle flew into Kankurou's face and his hair was released. The teen was just reeling back away from the man when a kick connected solidly with his rib cage followed by the man's hand grabbing his crotch. Kankurou sobbed and scrambled back, his own hand desperately pulling at the man's wrist before falling backward over the coffee table but closer to the stairs than he had been when this beating had started. He turned over and crawled as fast as he possibly could towards the stairs, but he didn't make it. A foot planted itself firmly on the small of Kankurou's back and stomped; hard. Kankurou screamed and collapsed onto the floor and the man was straddling his son's back, holding the boy's legs still and spread with his feet and his arms in one place at the wrists with one hand while the other reached around to Kankurou's chin and pulled his face upwards.

"What do you have to say for yourself, bitch?" the man breathed into Kankurou's ear, the smell of alcohol washing over the youth.

Kankurou just bit back a scream and squeezed his eyes shut. This was not how he'd envisioned losing his virginity at all. A thick sob worked its way up his throat and escaped and the hand on his chin released, finding a better grip on his hair and sending his face flying forwards to meet the hardwood floor.

"Shut up," the man growled. "Now, you're going to be a good son for once in your life and help you father out here, hmm?"

Kankurou couldn't help but think this man was far too coherent and strong and well balanced to be completely drunk. Kankurou couldn't really do much of anything at the moment. His arms twisted and struggled against the man's grip and he bucked, trying to dislodge his father. That just earned his face another meeting with the floor and the man ground down, exposing his arousal for his own son to his son, filling Kankurou with horror; his own father was actually going to go through with it. Another sob escaped him and his head hit the floor for a third time and the room spun around him.

"I told you to shut up!" the man screamed.

Then someone was knocking at the front door, and the man on top of Kankurou froze before growling and standing up. As soon as Kankurou thought he could make it he stumbled up the stairs, grabbed the key from above his door, ran into his room and slammed the door behind him, locking it then backing away. One of his own hands had somehow made it up to his mouth as though it was trying to hold back a scream; it probably was.

The backs of Kankurou's knees hit the bed and the teen let himself fall onto it and scramble as far back from the door as he could. Green eyes landed on the dull imitation-silver shine of his cell phone and he grabbed it before looking to his window. He had to get away from here, at least until the man was sober. When he was sober he knew better than to try to rape his own son. Kankurou grabbed a pair of old shoes from under the bed and crawled to the window, looking out for an escape route. The back lean-to was right below his window.

Kankurou let out a sharp laugh that sounded more like he was choking on a sob and opened the window sash, crawling out onto the black shingled roof and closing the window behind him. From there he jumped 6 or 7 feet down to the ground before he was bolting for the back fence. He barely registered the fact that he was over the fence, he just kept running until he found himself at the bus stop three blocks away from his house. Only when he allowed himself to collapse onto the bench did he realize tears were running down his face and that he still had his cell phone clenched in his hand.

The phone flipped open and before he realized what he was doing, he called Kiba's number and found himself on the line with a very confused sounding teen.

"…_Dude! Kankurou! Answer me! I can hear you breathing; what's wrong?" _Kiba was saying when Kankurou finally came to the present.

"Can you come get me?" Kankurou managed to force out through numb lips.

"_Kankurou? What? Come get- where are you?"_ Kiba asked, considerably more quietly than he had been talking before.

"The bus stop, three blocks from my house," Kankurou replied numbly.

"_Why don't you go home?"_ Kiba asked, pausing in whatever he had been doing.

"H-he'll k-kill me. He-he-he f-found out ab-bout my friends, and he-he-" Kankurou could even say it. To put what his father had been about to do, had been willing to do without any other thought, into words would make it real, and Kankurou desperately wanted this to all be a dream. He didn't want to wake up and still have the pain in his forehead and lips and wrists and thighs and back and chest; he just wanted a normal teenage life. The sounds of Kiba calling out to somebody met his ear, but Kankurou didn't really pay any attention to it.

"_We're coming, dude. Just sit tight, okay?"_ Kiba said comfortingly as the sounds of closing car doors filled the background. A car engine started up and Kankurou nodded, not caring if Kiba couldn't see it.

"Not like I'm going anywhere," Kankurou muttered as he closed the flip top of his phone. He just hoped Kiba got here before his father decided to get behind the wheel of the family car and run Kankurou over.

About twenty minutes later, a large bright yellow '70s van pulled up next to the bus stop and Kiba slid open the back door. The younger teen got out and walked over to Kankurou, taking one white-knuckled hand in his own and gently tugging him toward the van. It was then that Kankurou realized he was still clinging to his cell phone, almost crushing it.

Kiba got them situated in the van and the driver, Kankurou barely heard Kiba introduce her as his big sister, Hana, started driving. Then the reality of what had just happened to him crashed in and the tears wouldn't stop. The younger teen, Kankurou's rescuer, reached over and gently pulled the traumatized teen closer to him, running sharp-nailed fingers though messy and blood-matted brown hair in an attempt to calm Kankurou down.

"Kankurou, dude, calm down. You're safe now," Kiba murmured gently into Kankurou's ear as he rocked steadily back and forth with the sobbing almost-legally-an-adult burying his face in Kiba's shoulder.

Hana's worried eyes met her little brother's through the rear-view mirror and Kiba looked back at her helplessly. He didn't know what to do.

They arrived home at the same time Tsume, Kiba and Hana's mother, arrived home from her patrol. The feral looking woman jumped out of her squad car and raced to her son as soon as she saw he was supporting another person.

"What happened to him?" Tsume questioned sharply, very gently taking Kankurou from her son and looking him over like any concerned parent would do for any hurt child, even if that child was almost an adult.

"I'm not completely sure, but I'll bet anything that it has something to do with his father," Kiba replied. "He didn't even think to grab an overnight bag. Just his cell…"

"Help me get him inside," Tsume ordered Kiba and together they got the shaking Kankurou inside and onto their couch while Hana parked both of the vehicles, letting their mother's dog out of the back of the squad car while she was at it.

"Mom, why's he all distant like this. It's like he's not home. Is he going into shock?" Kiba sat down next to his friend.

"Something very traumatic probably happened to him. This is a common defensive reaction that everybody can go into at any time. He's trying to block something out, something that probably completely changed the way he looks at life. No, he's not going into shock; that would be much more serious." A pause. "What exactly is his situation at home, Kiba?" Tsume asked politely as she inspected the cut on Kankurou's forehead, gently, wincing when Kankurou flinched away.

Kiba took a deep, calming breath, but before he could say anything, his mom said, "That bad, huh?"

Kiba leveled a glare his mother's way, a glare she either didn't see or chose to ignore, before beginning, "He's gay and his father doesn't really like that… 'Doesn't really like that' is an understatement. The man hates it and he takes it out on Kankurou. Kankurou doesn't have many friends because of the incident last year that I told you about and his father won't let him have any at all, especially male. He has a strict curfew, can't get any grade below an A- and he's not really allowed to have a normal teenage life.

"When I first went over to his house for a history project with Gaara, Kankurou's little brother, Kankurou was on his desk chair backwards with his back to the door and his back was covered in little puncture wounds and long cuts. He says he'd been belted."

"That's child abuse," Tsume sighed and ran a concerned, motherly hand through Kankurou's hair.

"That's what I told him, but he told me not to tell. He's getting out in two months, anyway." Kiba said, but upon a sharp glare from his mother he quickly amended his statement. "His words, not mine."

"He's almost 18, then?" Kiba nodded. "Well, I still can't let this go. It's my job to get kids out of homes like that." Tsume stood. "If his father can't be pinned for child abuse, it's a hate crime. Abusing a gay man just because; no jury will like that."

Tsume left the room to go call it in and Kiba was left on the couch with a shell-shocked friend. He reached out a gentle hand and whispered, "What happened to you?"

The next morning found Kankurou sitting lethargically on Kiba's bed, still trying to wrap his mind around everything. Kankurou's dad had been arrested for domestic violence because Kiba's mom had called it in because she was a cop. The battered teen knew that the police would want his confession, but that could wait. If he hadn't been in shock last night, he feared he might be going into it now. The man who had the nerve to call himself Kankurou's father was going to go to jail. Even if the man wasn't going to jail, Kankurou and his siblings would be moved out. Apparently Tsume had pretty high standing in the police force and they all took her word at face value.

Kiba's bedroom door opened and Tsume came in and looked at the teen for a while.

"You should have come in when this all started, Kankurou," she said quietly.

"You think I didn't try?" Kankurou looked up at her, surprised by the sound that'd come out of his own mouth. "I told the school guidance councilor, and the school called home to confirm the stories. My father just passed it off as me looking for attention. When I got home that night he beat me so badly that I was out of school for a week. He told me that if I ever told anyone again he'd kill me."

Tsume sighed quietly. "Do you want to tell me what's been happening? I could take your statement and you wouldn't even have to leave this room."

Kankurou leaned back against Kiba's baby blue wall and turned his head away from the woman, trying to hold back tears, "Okay."

"Alright, I'll be right back. I will probably have to bring a second person in here to verify what you're telling me. You can do that, right?"

"Yeah, I'm not three."

When Tsume came back with a male cop, Kankurou told them everything. He told them about the way he'd been forced to come out of the closet, how he'd been treated at school, how his father had treated him. He told them about the time he'd broken curfew because he'd had to stay late at work and his father had beat him and locked him in the hall closet overnight ad well into the next day while he'd still been hurt and terrified of everything. He told them about all the punishments for getting 'bad' grades and the one time he brought a male friend over to the house. He told them about the night before and the almost rape. Kankurou told them everything.

And the cops believed him. The male cop said that the way he told the story didn't leave very much room for doubt as to the validity of the statement. After the cops talked to Kiba and his siblings, it was just that much stronger in their eyes; the judge and jury both agreed, and Kankurou was away from that man.

&~o~o~o~o~o~o~&

Kankurou jumped about two feet in the air when there was a tap on his bedroom window. The brown-haired man whipped around to face the source of the disturbance with the hardcover book he'd just been packing away ready as a weapon. Sadly, it was never needed and Kankurou stomped huffily over to the window to let in the feral looking Kiba Inuzuka, Kankurou's best friend and love interest.

"You stupid mutt! You do realize you can use to front door, right?"Kankurou started his tirade as soon as Kiba's feet touched Kankurou's carpeted bedroom floor.

"Yeah, but I wanted to try climbing into your room through the window at least once before you moved to your new apartment. By the way, happy birthday to you." Kiba brushed himself off with a roguish grin plastered onto his face.

"Yeah, it is a pretty good birthday, isn't it…? Even if it is raining…" Kankurou grinned and started back towards the box he'd been filling with his books.

"Hey, dude," Kiba started and Kankurou turned around to find himself staring straight into the eyes of Kiba. "You still gonna take me to that gay bar, try to get into my pants…? Or are you all bark and no bite?"

Kankurou raised an eyebrow, "So you're decided then?"

"I am," Kiba took a step closer, so he was standing quite in Kankurou's personal space.

"And you're officially gay?" Kankurou breathed.

Kiba wrapped his arms around Kankurou's waist and whispered into the older brunette's ear, "For you."

Kankurou turned his head to the side in search of Kiba's lips; Kiba met him halfway. Now, the kiss was anything but a fairytale quality type kiss; Kankurou was really the only experienced kisser of the two and Kiba was a tad bit on the wet side and their teeth scraped each other, but Kankurou felt that the kiss was well worth the wait of six months and he'd be able to train the mutt after a little while of practicing. Practice makes perfect after all.

They pulled apart and Kankurou whispered, "Do I have to take you to a gay bar or can we settle for a nice little dinner date."

"Dinner sounds pretty good, but I've never been to a gay bar before…"

"I want to have our first date somewhere where I don't have to beat horny guys off you every two minutes."

"Do you count?"

"Hey," Kankurou pulled back to properly look Kiba in the eyes, "I couldn't even masturbate without fear of my father killing me. It's not my fault I'm horny, but first dates shouldn't be about sex."

"Good, glad you're coming with me on that one. I don't think I'm quite ready to give that up just yet," Kiba sighed and looked around. "Geez, how much stuff do you own?"

"A lot," Kankurou snorted and turned back to the take at hand. "You can start with the shelves in my closet.

"Kankurou?"

"Hmmm?"

"Do you like your birthday present?"

"You cheap bastard!" Kankurou teased and Kiba laughed.

"See, I told you they'd get together," Neji grinned and chewed on the straw of his slurpy as he and the rest of Kiba's friends watched the two from the doorway.

&~o~o~o~o~o~o~&

_**Masked-Writer-In-Disguise:**__ Ok… officially the longer oneshot I have ever written… I hope you all enjoyed it… Phew…_


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